BANGOR – Pan American Airlines will begin offering jet service from Bangor International Airport to Lehigh Valley International Airport in Allentown, Pa., starting Jan. 8. But on the same date Pan Am will discontinue flying from BIA to Pittsburgh.

In Allentown, travelers will be able to connect to flights to Orlando Sanford International Airport in Sanford, Fla., to MidAmerica St. Louis Airport in Missouri, and to Chicago-Gary Airport in Indiana, said BIA marketing director Jeff Russell.

The service will be flown on Pan Am’s 727 jets, which seat 149 people.

The cancellation of service to Pittsburgh, and the addition of service to Allentown, will shorten flying time from Bangor to Orlando because of better connecting flights, Russell said.

Allentown, according to Russell, is within 50 miles of Philadelphia, and an hour-and-a-half drive to Newark-New York City.

On Monday, Pan American began service between Newington, N.H., and Allentown, Pa.

“Brown Cow” Elaine Cobb of Wind Gap, Pa., sat at the Allentown airport with a group waiting for the first flight to arrive from Newington.